The other Iran (With Nic Kristof & Rick Steves)

One of the most pernicious misunderstandings in the West about Iranians is that they are dour religious fanatics.

“About half of Iranians are under the age of 25, and Iran has done a solid job of raising their education levels. I was struck on my 1,700-mile road trip across Iran by how many of them share American values, seeking fun rather than fanaticism. They seem less interested in the mosques than in amusement parks (which are ubiquitous in Iran)”.

The whole hospitality thing he refers to fits with what travel writer Rick Steves reported a few years ago.

We can only pray that the same neo-con warmongers who misled us into the $1 trillion catastrophe in Iraq, who are pounding the same drums of war that they sounded then, don’t get there way over the way of diplomacy and patience.

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See also: NYTimes Fri. June 22 Letters….
It is not only the “neo-cons” who are responsible for the Damocles’ sword poised in the Middle East.

Both Israel and Iran currently have radical hardline governments. We cannot believe or trust anything that they say or do.
The U.S. currently has “boots on the ground” (infantry and nuclear technicians) in Israel, ostensibly to assist with any Israeli plans to bomb Iran’s reactors, or invasion, whichever becomes necessary.

The U.S. continues to support Israel with billions of dollars annually. Most of this money goes for armaments and the IDF.

Israel has several nuclear facilities in their country, including a large one in Dimona, a short distance southwest of Jerusalem. Why do they fear possible Iranian nuclear capabilities when they themselves are fullly armed and ready to go?

Most Americans do not know these facts because our government hides the truth from us. The truth is there — we just have to dig for it! The largest Jewish lobby in this country is American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Washington. Their money and influence control U.S. Mideast foreign policy.

Unfortunately, it is unpopular to criticize Israel. If one happens to be a Gentile, they are immediately branded an anti-semite. If one is Jewish, they are called a “self-hating Jew.” So most Americans say nothing. They do not speak up.
In my opinion, Israel has lost whatever moral compass and pure motives that it once had. This is demonstrated by the unceasing, illegal theft of Palestinian lands and homes, most of which have been in families for generations. In Israel’s continuing land grab, they wrest Palestinian families from their homes, leaving them no place to go. The lands and the homes are then “given” to mostly Ultra-Orthodox settlers — many of them U.S. citizens who have recently emigrated to Israel.

True, Alice; i saw a poll not long ago, though, where the vast majority of Israeli people are much opposed even to bombing the potential nuclear sites in Iran, at least until there’s credible and sure evidence of any threat to security. I always say we might as well annex Israel and make it the 51rst state, which it practically is. Except that you can criticize any of the leadership of the 50 states here without fear of some nasty intimidation or without it being political suicide if you’re a politician. It’s pretty astounding the brutality that this country supports and subsidizes with our tax money over there and the brainwashing that has convinced our country’s people that Israel is without sin.